Review of Ravenous

Introduction

Lieutenant Boyd (Guy Pearce) is a troubled man: after faking death and being buried alive with his dead comrades during the American/Mexican war, he’s awarded a medal for bravery and sent packing to an isolated outpost in the deserted, snowy wilderness of Fort Spencer with an eccentric collection of oddballs and millitary rejects. The peace and quiet of this barren oasis is disturbed by a mysterious stranger, Colquoun (Robert Carlyle) who brings tales of a horrific massacre as his stranded party reverted to cannibalism to survive. Boyd and his colleagues take Colquoun back to the scene of the appalling events to verify his story, and, as you might expect, everything goes topside as Colquoun proves to be much more than a pious stranger.

Video

The ‘Scope photography of the Czech and Polish locations is truly awe-inspiring and the colours and contrast of the transfer, although not exactly reference quality, are very good indeed.

Audio

A 5.1 surround track that exploits every note of Damon Albarn and Michael Nyman’s excellent score... and we`re very thankful for it.

Features

Although everyone stays pretty tight-lipped about this film’s fairly horrendous production problems (several shut-downs, three directors) the three commentaries on show are pretty strong fair: Antonia Bird and Damon Albarn aren’t too matey on track one and have some interesting insights to give us. Robert Carlyle’s solo effort is very basic, but writer Ted Griffin and supporting player Jeffrey Jones’s (of Ferris Bueller fame) track is exceptional, covering many topics with an agreeably personal slant. The rest of the extras are welcome for what is essentially a cult film: a whole bunch of photo galleries, theatrical trailer and deleted scenes with commentary from Ms. Bird. Nice.

Conclusion

A deliriously free-wheeling movie, ultimately indefinable in terms of genre, but incredibly enjoyable all the same. Director Antonia Bird (of Brit crime drama ‘Face’ and the BBC drama `Care`) is hardly the obvious choice for this nasty gore-fest, but handles the perverse twists and turns in the story with an effortless slight of hand in terms of structural dynamics but never loses control of the story’s wit and dark charm. Although the supporting cast feel trampled by the conventional forward thrust of the story-line, Pearce and Carlyle are stand-outs in roles that allow them to perfectly play off their screen personas: Pearce’s internal battle for self-hood, Carlyle’s seductive nihilist routine with occasional mad-cap fireworks to remind us that’s he’s a complete sick-twist, despite his innate likeability.

In truth, this is a terribly mean and funny satire on modern consumer culture, where Boyd and Colquoun’s compulsive desire for human flesh mirrors the population’s insatiable desire for the ‘stuff’ of modern existence: Colquoun, as much as he appears to be a slick, powerful figure, is a slave to his desire as much as anyone else. However, perhaps it works best as a ghoulish one-off: a reckless, blood-drenched oddity that despite its troubled history, holds together brilliantly well, with a delicious blend of dark comedy, horrific excess, buddy movie, social satire and general bloody mayhem. The movie ‘Hannibal’ should have been, and, even if it`s not your cup of tea, you can’t deny that at least Bird has the courage of her grisly convictions. Highly recommended.